An all Simpsons cable channel?

David Konow, 17th September 2011

Although I haven't watched it in years, I absolutely love The Simpsons, and if they never produce a funny episode again, it will always be one of the greatest shows in TV history.

For many years, the show got better and better every episode, which is not easy to do. For any die hard fan of the show, it's preaching to the converted to say The Simpsons at the top of its game is brilliant, hilarious, and right on target about, well, practically everything.

So when I saw the headline in the L.A. Times, "Could Homer Simpson Get His Own Channel?," for many Simpsons fans like myself, this would absolutely be a dream come true, although many of us have our own Simpsons channels at home, playing our favorite episodes over and over again on DVD or Blu-Ray. As I then surmised, this was a little misleading.

The COO of New Corp, Chase Carey, mentioned this idea at an entertainment conference, and it could have just been a joke put out there at the top of his head, although the report did say that Fox is talking about other what's called "revenue streams" for the show other than the re-runs and DVDs. But this may have to wait until the show is kaput, because the show is still in production, and about to start its 23rd season. As the LAT reports, after the show is cancelled, the "second cycle sales" of repeats can be sold.

It's a funny idea, and I wouldn't be surprised if there was a joke about it on the show, but for one, the show makes enough cash as it is, and the fans would probably resent the network squeezing every last drop out of the turnip. Though it's certainly to be expected, of course.

And why would us Simpsons die hards wait to see their favorite episode or set their Tivo for when in all likelihood we have the box sets anyways, and can watch our favorite episodes whenever we want? Then again, some Simpsons fans would probably get the channel anyways, and can set up a bunch of TVs and bask in the non-stop glow of the show like a tanning bed.

There'd clearly have to be other things for this idea to work, like maybe Patti and Aunt Selma can have their own Oxygen style women's show with Oprah as a guest voice. There can also be Itchy and Scratchy cartoons every day after school and on Saturday mornings. And how about Homer losing his mind like Howard Beale in Network, imploring all of us to get up, throw open the window, stick your head out and scream, "D'OH!!!"